Temporal Mass
by Lost Guardian Nexor
Summary: I don't know why I ended up here, but I do know there's a war going on; a war even I can't win on my own. I know deep inside, though my memory has left me, that I am a hero; a hero of time. A hero of this time, however? That, I cannot say.


Emptiness flowed through him, as if all of existence no longer mattered. In this odd state of being, the hero felt neither no need to panic yet every reason to scream, but the sound never came. Never did he think to call out for his friend, to think of his adventures up to this point.

Emptiness overcame him, and he too became empty for that brief second in the universe when time shattered and sent all crashing down with it. Then everything jerked back into existence and he heard nothing but screams and thunder.

-The Hero's Arrival: Chapter 1-

_What is my name? Where am I? Why do I feel so calm?_

A million questions swam through his mind, yet he had no full understanding of why he had them. He could remember faded images of possible answers. All he could fully remember is his name; Link. Saying it felt so odd, somehow.

An explosive crack rang overhead, whirring light zipping before his eyes before somebody grabbed him by the neck of his tunic and yanked him to safety. Look at his savior, he saw the hardened face of a woman veiled by a helmet she wore over her head. Her armor was designed like nothing he had seen before; at least, from what he remembered. She yelled for him to duck and he curled up as the ground around the structure shielding them shook and metal flew past like an explosion had struck their defenses. "What are you doing, civilian?"

"L-Link!" He gasped in alarm.

The woman cocked both a brow and an instrument in her hand and fired bright light at a group of shambling figure slowly drawing closely. Other people nearby were firing the light too, and Link gasped when he saw one of the figures crumple over in response. Weapons?

"Pardon?" The woman asked, firing her weapon again. Her instrument's light spread out in a cone, not flying very far but definitely staggering nearby figures.

"M-my name. It's Link." He repeated, looking at the figures. "What are those?"

She looked at him, furrowing her brow. "Geth. How long have you been out, kid?" Link looked at his boots; he looked so different from these people, he noted. "I don't know.."

The woman shrugged and fired again, unholstering a smaller instrument and handing it to him. It was made of a light metal and felt easy to grip in his hands, the hilt comfy to hold and easy to maneuver. "You any good as a shot?" She asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm better at archery."

She sighed and grasped his arms firmly yet not forcefully, helping him stand correctly with the instrument aimed at an approaching figure she called a geth. "Take a deep breath," She instructed, releasing his arms, "and pull the trigger."

Link let it flow back to him. Faces cheering him on as he displayed his skill with a bow, faces he couldn't describe yet felt safe thinking about. it all flowed back to him, the marksmen in his blood awakening as he saw exactly where he planned to sent this arrow of light.

He pulled the trigger, and the bolt of light startled him but he didn't falter; whomever this Link was, he knew deep down he was not afraid of this. The bolt zipped across twenty yard and struck a geth in its chest. The metal plating on its body punched inward and it stumbled back, firing in his direction. Seeing it as another arrow fired in retaliation, he ducked behind the metal tower and waited until his inner marksmen made him draw the bolt itself. Spinning out, this shot punched through the geth's glowing cycloptic eye, sending it backwards into a pile of lifeless machine.

"Good shot, kid!" The woman patted him on the back, smiling faintly. "Names Beatrice. Just call me Betty." She fired over his shoulder at an approaching geth, pulling away when another person ran over. Link gasped and raised his weapon in defense, double-checking when the approacher swatted it from his hands and shot him a stern look. "Civilians." The man muttered - at least, Link was assuming it was male. It stood a foot taller than him with scaly, shelled skin that was faintly brown in color and decorated with streaks of white. It's eyes, observative and blue, seemed ominous to Link. Its face was oddly-constructed with mandibles aside its mouth that clicked slightly as he looked at Beatrice with a grimace.

"Why is this civilian here?" He asked, pointing a claw at Link. Beatrice frowned and fired at the geth before reporting back. "Found him passed out; I guess he bumped his head or something." She explained but smiled briefly at Link. "He's a damn good shot though; thought I could use the he-"

"By endangering an innocent!?" The creature growled, clenching its fists before muttering angrilly in a foreign language and firing around the structure at fast-encoraching geth. His shots were rapid and sporadic, spraying them with light and bringing them down. "This is a violation of regulations, Manners!" He barked at her.

Firing again at a dangerously close geth trooper, Beatrice looked back at the creature and frowned. "I know I'm not on good grounds as is, but Barran I-" She was cut off by a silent glare from the man called Barran. He turned his back on her, dashing out of cover and spraying them with fire before ducking behind another rock. "Like he expects us to hold them off like this." Beatrice grimaced and fired again. Link fired after her, picking off the survivors. "You sure you're not Alliance?"

Link looked at her blankly. "Who..?"

"Wow, you must be living under a rock." She chuckled and threw an object into the crowd that exploded and splintered the geth into slag. Link watched in awe at the raw power of the small object she had thrown. "I guess so.." He muttered, taken aback. Beatrice took notice and smiled faintly. "Link, right?" She looked back at him, hoping conversation might calm his nerves. "How old are you?"

"15." He answered, firing again. His bolt struck a cyclinder near a geth and blew it apart with the shockwave of fire.

"You don't look it!" She snickered and fired again. "My guess was 19, but oh well!"

Link raised an eyebrow. Come to think of it, his voice sounded deeper. He didn't really talk much, but he sure didn't remember his voice being so strong. Looking at himself, he noticed where she got that guess. He was indeed much taller than he remembered; his body was taller, slimmer and his blonde hair had gotten longer and shaggier. "You could be right on the money, actually.." He mumbled before shooting again. After this shot, a firm hand grasped him and pulled him away, leading him from Beatrice. "Wait, what are y-" Link looked over his shoulder and saw Barran tugging him along.

"Captain's orders. You're coming with us aboard the Champion until we can send you to a safe colony." Barran ordered, the strange creature's face contorted with anger. Link struggled in his grasp, trying to rejoin beatrice, but a strong strike to his world sent his world black once more.

* * *

Link awoke with a headache and a slight burning in his neck, feeling faint clawmarks from Barran's hand as he dragged the unconscious human away. Looking around, he saw a woman looking over other people's wounds, all of them in far worse condition than he was. She was many years his senior, perhaps thrirty, with icy-blue eyes and fair skin that seemed slightly marked by scars. Her hair was short and black, drawn into a ponytail in the back. Her coat was clean and white, seemingly like a medic. As the woman approached him, he gave her a scared look, to which she giggled softly. "Don't worry, darling. I won't hurt you." She insisted, drawing closer and looking over a chart on a glowing display emanating from her wrist. "No real damage. Mild abrasions, but I'm sure that's our turian friend's handiwork, hm?"

"T-turian?" Link asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Beatrice said you were oddly misinformed. Perhaps that explains the abnormal brainwaves. I first theorized it may have been an adverse response to geth energy but you seem healthy aside these confused patterns in your memory." She looked at him. "Your name?"

"Link."

"Homecolony or planet of birth?"

Link was blank, thinking hard but finding himself suddenly engrossed in the outift they had him in. It was comfy and cool yet oddly appealing to the eyes. The green in the padding made him smile. "You got my favorite color."

She patted him on the head. "Focus dear. Your homecolony?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, but I'm sure it wasn't that place I woke up in."

"You sure?" She hmmed. "Perhaps you suffer from amnesia after exposure to a space anomaly? That isn't very common, but a malfunctioning mass core can cause unpredictable and often disastrous effects."

Link blinked, remaining silent but nodding. "..Sure."

"Well, then I suggest you stay on this ship until we can help get a grip on your identity beside your first name." She nodded and typed something on her strange device. Noticing his curious eyes, she looked up at him from the tool. "Omni-tool. Allows for communications and information storage." She chuckled softly at the dumb look she got in response, patting his hair. "Perhaps we should help get you used to life as a spacer, Link. But first, maybe you should go take a shower and freshen up."

Nodding slowly, he stood up off the table and stepped down, looking around. The soldiers watched him curiously but not in an imposing manner like Barran; he felt he could trust them. Approaching the door, he found no knob and muttered in confusion before the door slid open and nearly gave him a heart attack. Stepping back, he observed the face of the 'turian' the medic had described as Barran. "I see our little hero has woken up. Sorry about the scratches; you're a fidgety sleeper."

Link froze. "N-no problem, sir.." He smiled weakly, feeling a little worried. Why was he here?

"He's suffered quite the tragedy, Commander. No coherent memory aside from a name and some exceptional marskmenship as Beatrice described." The medic approached, hand on Link's shoulder to steady him. "Pardon his startlement, Commander. He isn't even aware of non-human races like yourself."

Barren's mandibles spread in the faintest of curious smirks. "Oh? It seems our little soldier has a lot to learn if he's to restart on a new colon-"

"I'm afraid I have deemed it wiser to keep him with us while he recuperates, Barran." The woman frowned. "If he is to go back to society, we must make sure he doesn't scream the first time he sees a krogan."

"And who deemed your decision superior to mine on this decision, Dr. Nast?" Barran got closer, his spiky shoulders rising to make himself look bigger.

"Captain Arnos." Nast said sternly. "He gave me final say on the patient's condition. He stays here until he can remember; doctor's orders."

Barran was silent before looking at him. "Your name?"

"His name is Link, and we'll go with the last name Doe for now." Nast answered before Link could. "My blood test says he's a slight human/alien hybrid. My test won't indicate what race, but it has made itself present in certain features." She pointed to his long ears and almond eyes. "Besides that, he's 20 years old and seems to be in great shape for somebody in his state."

"A hybrid?" Barran looked at him with interest. "Wayne may be interested in you, Mr. Doe. Perhaps as soon as you freshen up, I could...introduce you to the crew?"

Link thought on it and slowly nodded. "And the showers are where..?"

"I believe Dr. Nast can escort you." Barran chuckled.

Chapter 1 End

* * *

This idea came from nowhere, but I do believe I can make a full story from it. If you have any ideas on how the story can progress, feel free to PM me or leave a review suggesting a next step in the plot.


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